Attenuated vaccine useful for immunizations against Coccidioides spp. infections

ABSTRACT

A  Coccidioides  spp. fungus that is attenuated by the loss of endosporulation potential of the fungus wherein said fungus does not replicate when transformed into the parasitic phase.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(B) of Provisional application 60/633,399 filed Dec. 3, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECT

The United States Government owns rights in the present invention pursuant to Public Service Grants “Immunoreactive Macromolecules of Coccidioides Cell Types” (Al19149) and “Isolation and Expression of Coccidioides T-cell Antigens” (Al37232) from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the fields of pathogenic fungi and immunology. In particular, the invention provides compositions of Coccidioides spp. strains attenuated by the selective targeting and replacement of genes encoding proteins necessary for the formation, maturation and replication of parasitic phase propagules. More particularly, the present invention provides compositions of Coccidioides spp. recombinant strains, which are useful for generating an immunological response in an individual and in vaccines and therapeutic applications of infections due to pathogenic Coccidioides spp. fungi, such as C. posadasii or C. immitis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Coccidioidomycosis, otherwise known as the San Joaquin Valley Fever, is a fungal respiratory disease of humans and wild and domestic animals, which is endemic to southwestern United States, northern Mexico, and numerous semiarid areas of Central and South America (Pappagianis, D. Epidemiology of Coccidioidomycosis. Current Topics in Medical Mycology. 1988. 2:199-23). Infection occurs by inhalation of airborne spores (arthroconidia) produced by the saprobic phase of Coccidioides spp., which grows in alkaline desert soil, followed by morphogenic conversion of the fungus to the virulent, parasitic phase in the host mammal.

Coccidioides immitis was the first described species, and is now becoming known as the Californian species. The C. posadasii species was recently defined, and was previously recognized as the non-Californian population of C. immitis (Fisher, M. C., Koenig, G. L., White, T. J., Taylor, J. W. Molecular and phenotypic description of Coccidioides posadasii sp. nov., previously recognized as the non-California population of Coccidioides immitis. Mycologia 2002. 94(1):73-84, 2002). The differences in the two species are slight.

It is estimated that 100,000 new cases of this disease occur annually within the rapidly growing population of people who live in regions of the United States between southwest Texas and southern California, where the disease is endemic (Galgiani, J. N. Coccidioidomycosis: A regional disease of national importance; rethinking our approaches to its control. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1999. 130:293-300). Although the majority of immunocompetent individuals are able to resolve their Coccidioides spp. infection spontaneously, the level of morbidity associated even with the primary form of this respiratory mycosis warrants consideration of a vaccine against the disease. Immunocompromised patients, including those infected with human immunodeficiency virus, are at high risk to contract disseminated coccidioidomycosis (Ampel, N. M., C. L. Dols, and J. N. Galgiani. Results of a prospective study in a coccidioidal endemic area. American Journal of Medicine. 1993. 94:235-240). It is also apparent from results of several clinical studies that African-Americans and Asians are genetically predisposed to development of the potentially fatal, disseminated form of the respiratory disease (Galgiani, J. N. 1993. Coccidioidomycosis. Western Journal of Medicine 159:153-171).

Chitin, a linear polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is one of the major structural components of the fungal cell wall, and is required for cell shape and morphogenesis. The enzyme chitinase hydrolyzes the 1,4-beta-linkages of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine polymers of chitin, and has been shown to play an important role in molding and shaping the cell wall of many fungi during growth and reproduction (Kuranda, M. J. & Robbins, P. W. 1991. Chitinase is required for cell separation during growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Journal of Biological Chemistry 266,19758-19767; Takaya, N., Yamazaki, D., Horiuchi, H., Ohta, A. & Takagi, M. 1998. Cloning and characterization of a chitinase-encoding gene (chiA) from Aspergillus nidulans, disruption of which decreases germination frequency and hyphal growth. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 62, 60-65). In Coccidioides spp., the literature has reported two chitinase (CTS) genes (Pishko, E J; Kirkland, T N; Cole, G T 1995. Isolation and characterization of two chitinase-encoding genes (cts1, cts2) from the fungus Coccidioides immitis. Gene 167:173-7; Cole G T, Hung C Y. 2001. The parasitic cell wall of Coccidioides immitis. Medical Mycology 39 Supplement 1:31-40), and an additional five have been identified by us. These chitinases were grouped into two classes, bacterial-like and fungal-like, according to phylogenic analysis with other reported chitinases. Although evidence suggests that chitinases associate with the segmentation apparatus of parasitic phase Coccidioides spp., the specific role or function of the individual chitinases is not understood. Indeed, deletion of the CTS1 gene (a bacterial-like chitinase) from a strain of Coccidioides posadasii led to no discernible effects on reproductive endosporulation or virulence (Reichard, U., C. -Y. Hung, P. W. Thomas, and G. T. Cole. 2000. Disruption of the gene which encodes a serodiagnostic antigen and chitinase of the human fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis. Infection and Immunity 68:5830-5838). However, fungal-like chitinases (CTS2, CTS3, and CTS4) of Coccidioides are more likely involved in morphogenesis based on reported data as referenced above (Kuranda & Robbins.1991, Takaya et. al. 1998).

The rationale for commitment of research efforts to develop a Coccidioides spp. vaccine is based on clinical evidence that individuals who recover from the respiratory coccidioidomycosis disease retain effective long-term cellular immunity against future infections by the pathogen (Smith, C. E. 1940. American Journal of Public Health 30:600-611). In addition, early preclinical studies demonstrated that a formalin-killed whole-cell (spherule) vaccine prevented deaths in mice after infection with even very large numbers of coccidioidal spores (Levine et al.1961. Journal of Immunology 87:218-227). However, when a similar vaccine preparation was evaluated in a human trial, there was substantial local inflammation, pain, and induration at the injection site, rendering the vaccine unacceptable (Pappagianis et al. Evaluation of the protective efficacy of the killed Coccidioides immitis spherule vaccine in humans. American Review of Respiratory Diseases. 1993.148:656-660). Further, there was no difference in the number of cases of coccidioidomycosis or the severity of the disease in the formalin-killed spherule vaccinated group compared to-the placebo group. Therefore, the original human vaccine trial was not successful.

Other attempts to identify a suitable vaccine have focused on the creation of attenuated, live strains of C. immitis for the induction of an immune response. In two such attempts, investigators induced auxotrophic mutations in strains of C. immitis via X-ray irradiation (Foley, J. M, Berman, R. J., and Smith, C. E. X-ray irradiation of Coccidioides immitis arthrospores: survival curves and avirulent mutants isolated. Journal of Bacteriology. 1960. 79:480) or UV-irradiation and chemical mutagenesis (Walch, H. A. and Walch. R. K. Studies with induced mutants of Coccidioides immitis. In L. Ajello (ed.) Proceedings of the Second Symposium on Coccidioidomycosis. University of Arizona Press. 1960. p 339), and then utilized the attenuated strains as vaccines prior to challenging the animals with wild-type C. immitis. However, these and subsequent reports utilizing these strains (Pappagianis, D., Levine, H. B., Smith, C. E., Berman, R. J. and Kobayashi, G. S. Immunization of mice with viable Coccidioides immitis. Journal of Immunology. 1961. 86:28; Walch, H. A. and Walch. R. K. Immunization of mice with induced mutants of Coccidioides immitis. I. Characterization of mutants and preliminary studies of their use as viable vaccines. Sabouraudia. 1971. 9:173) demonstrated that although varying degrees of immunization were attained with these strains, the attenuated strains nevertheless were capable of converting to the parasitic phase and resulted in localized or disseminated lesions in the experimental animals. In one instance, the attenuated strain regained its virulence through the loss of the auxotrophic state, causing disease in vaccinated animals. Given the evidence of localized or disseminated disease, the investigators found the attenuated strains to be inappropriate as vaccines.

Therefore, there is a long felt need for more effective, safe and usable compositions for inducing an immune response to prevent, treat, or ameliorate infection of Coccidioides spp. and disease states associated with the infection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object herein to provide the methods for creating attenuated strains of Coccidioides spp. that have an immunostimulatory activity. As used herein, the term “attenuated” is used in the broadest sense to mean to render a fungus strain made less virulent or less capable of causing coccidioidomycosis in a mammal through human intervention or act. As used herein, the terms “virulent” and “virulence” means the potential to cause progressive or lethal coccidioidomycosis disease in a mammal. It is understood by those skilled in the art that such attenuated strains may be capable of growth under artificial in vitro conditions, or may be capable of limited growth when introduced into a mammal, but are of insufficient virulence to cause disease. Examples of an attenuated fungus can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,248,322, which by reference is incorporated herein in its entirety. Such immunostimulatory attenuated strains will be useful in the prevention and treatment of infections due to Coccidioides spp. In one embodiment, the attenuated Coccidioides spp. fungus is Coccidioides posadasii. In another embodiment, the attenuated Coccidioides spp. fungus is Coccidioides immitis.

In order to meet these needs, compositions and methods for the production of attenuated strains of Coccidioides spp. have been devised that render the strains incapable of reproducing in the parasitic, spherule-endospore phase of the fungus. Thus, such strains are replication competent, meaning that they have the ability to grow and reproduce as mycelia in the saprophytic, non-parasitic phase, but they are incapable of producing progeny endospores in the virulent parasitic phase. Such strains are otherwise intact, but their inability to reproduce in the parasitic phase results in the strain's inability to cause disease and, hence, lack of virulence.

Further, we have found that the selective introduction of genetic alterations in certain genes, leading to the disruption of the genes and corresponding loss of functional proteins encoded by those genes, results in the loss of reproductive potential in the parasitic phase of Coccidioides spp. fungus.

In one example, strains of recombinant Coccidioides posadasii fungus have been modified to render them incapable of expressing functional Cts2 and Cts3 proteins as well as a putative D-arabinitol 2-dehydrogenase (Ardl), whose coding gene (ARD1) is located immediately upstream (5′) to the CTS3 gene (SEQ ID NO:6). The Cts proteins are two of several homologs of chitinase found in Coccidioides spp. that regulate the degredation of chitin; a key structural component of the cell wall of the fungus. As used herein, homolog means a second gene within the same species derived from a common ancestral gene that has evolved a new, though similar function.

The

cts2

ard1

cts3 triple mutant strains described herein are capable of growing and reproducing in the saprobic, mycelial phase and converting to the parasitic spherule phase, but are incapable of undergoing endosporulation and, therefore, cannot replicate in the parasitic form, rendering the recombinant fungus incapable of causing disease. Hence, such strains are attenuated.

Surprisingly, we have found that such strains of attenuated fungus are capable of inducing a potent immune response. Accordingly, another aspect of the invention provides a method for inducing an immune response in a mammal sufficient to resist infection by Coccidioides spp., accomplished by administration to the mammal the attenuated fungus of the invention by single or multiple injections. Preferably, the administration of the attenuated fungus is by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection or intranasal instillation. In one embodiment, the recombinant fungus compositions and the methods for their administration provide protection against Coccidioides posadasli and or Coccidioides immitis infections in a mammal, such as a human. In another embodiment, the recombinant fungus compositions and the methods for their administration provide protection against Coccidioides spp. infection in domestic animals, including but not limited to dogs, cats, horses, and cattle.

According to preferred embodiments, compositions and methods are provided herein for the production of a cts2/ard1/cts3 null mutant comprising a transformed strain of Coccidioides spp. created by a targeted replacement of polynucleotides from genomic CTS 2 and ARD1/CTS3 sequences with the recombinant sequence comprising but not limited to nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:4 and nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:11. In one embodiment, the targeted replacement results in a transformed strain of Coccidioides spp. with the cts2/ard1/cts3 null mutant comprising but not limited to the nucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:14.

In another embodiment, the attenuated fungus is incapable of producing functional CTS2, CTS3 and ARD1-encoded proteins by methods including but not limited to disruption or deletion of the genes or partial sequences of the genes encoding the proteins, by introduction of nonsense mutations in the genes, by the deletion or mutation of the promoters or terminators of said genes, or other methods known in the art. Coccidioides posadasii is a haploid fungus and methods for gene manipulation of this fungus are well-established (Reichard, U., et al., 2000. Infection and Immunity 68:5830-5838; Hung et al., 2002. A parasitic phase-specific adhesin of Coccidioides immitis contributes to the virulence of this respiratory fungal pathogen. Infection and Immunity 70:3442-3456). By such methods, deletion of the promoter of the targeted gene prevents the transcription of the desired mRNA, and deletion of terminator results in instability of the transcribed mRNA. In either case, mutants are unable to express the desired protein since there are no matured mRNA transcripts to be used as templates for translation into proteins. Deletion of partial sequences may result in expression of truncated proteins. However these proteins may not retain their biological function due to deletion of functional domains or lack of proper folding. Site-directed mutagenesis can also be used to change critical amino acids of a protein to block or attenuate their functionality.

Accordingly, in a further embodiment, the attenuated fungus is incapable of transcribing the CTS2, CTS3 and/or ARD1 genes and/or translating the resulting transcripts into polypeptides.

In yet a further embodiment, compositions and methods for the production of transformed strains of Coccidioides spp. in which a null mutation of the URE gene is introduced into the cts2/ard1/cts3 null mutant strains, resulting in a functional disruption of the URE gene product are provided. As the URE gene product is produced during endosporulation of the parasitic phase Coccidioides spp. fungus and is regarded as a virulence factor in infections due to this fungus (Mirbod, F., and R. A. Schaller. 2002. Purification and characterization of urease isolated from the pathogenic fungus Coccidioides immitis. Medical Mycology 40:35-44; Yu, J. -J., S. L. Smithson, P. W. Thomas, T. N. Kirkland, and G. T. Cole. 1997. Isolation and characterization of the urease gene (URE) from the pathogenic fungus Coccidioides immitis. Gene 198:387-391), the introduction of a Δure mutation into a cts2/ard1/cts3 null mutant strain would provide an additional margin of safety, should the latter strain undergo a reversion and regain the ability to endosporulate and reproduce. As cts2/ard1/cts3/ure null strains of Coccidioides spp. fungus would retain the ability to elicit an effective immune response, but would have an enhanced degree of safety. Such strains would provide safe and effective compositions useful for the prevention of infections due to Coccidioides spp.

A further embodiment provides the use of the recombinant attenuated strains in combination with one or more other Coccidioides spp. polypeptides to elicit an immune response sufficient to provide an effective immunization against Coccidioides spp. infection. In one embodiment the recombinant fungus and polypeptides are provided as a composition containing a mixture of said fungus and polypeptides. In another embodiment the composition is provided as separate compositions to be administered concurrently or consecutively; the latter consistent with the well-known practice of “prime-boost” for eliciting an immune response.

In one embodiment, methods for the production of Coccidioides spp. attenuated strains and compositions of recombinant fungal strains identical or substantially identical to the recombinant strains containing the polynucleotide sequences of SEQ ID NO:13 and SEQ ID NO:14 useful in pharmaceutical compositions are described herein.

The present invention also provides formulations of attenuated Coccidioides spp. fungus suitable for immunizing a mammal and methods of preparing the formulations containing the attenuated fungus. Preferred embodiments would include formulations containing adjuvants and or pharmaceutical excipients and carriers, as well as kits containing the formulated attenuated Coccidioides spp. fungus, to facilitate the use of the fungus for eliciting an effective immune response in a mammal.

The present invention further provides an attenuated Coccidioides spp. fungus incapable of endosporulation wherein the fungus is incapable of replication in the parasitic phase.

In one embodiment, the fungus is a recombinant Coccidioides spp. fungus incapable of producing functional endosporulation proteins; hence the fungus is incapable of replication in the parasitic phase. In a further embodiment, the recombinant Coccidioides fungus includes one or more mutations in the genes encoding the endosporulation proteins. For example, such mutations would include one or more deletions in the polynucleotide sequence of the genes. In a specific embodiment, the endosporulation genes include one or more CTS genes with one or more mutations. In one format, the recombinant fungus includes a CTS2 gene and a CTS3 gene wherein the genes each comprise a deletion wherein the recombinant fungus is incapable of expressing polypeptide gene products of the CTS2 and said CTS3 genes.

In another embodiment, the mutated endosporulation genes include one or more CTS genes and an ARD1 gene with one or more mutations. In a specific embodiment, the recombinant fungus includes a CTS2 gene, a CTS3 gene, and an ARD1 gene wherein a deletion in each gene renders the recombinant fungus incapable of expressing the polypeptide gene products of the CTS2, CTS3, and ARD1 genes. In one embodiment, the recombinant Coccidioides spp. fungus is incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:3 and the sequence of SEQ ID NO:8. In a further embodiment, the recombinant Coccidioides spp. fungus is incapable of expressing polypeptides including the sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, the sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 and the sequence of SEQ ID NO:10.

In a further variation, the recombinant Coccidioides spp. fungus includes recombinant CTS2, CTS3 and ARD1 genes wherein the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant CTS2 gene includes SEQ ID NO:13, the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant CTS3 gene includes SEQ ID NO:14 and the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant ADR1 gene includes SEQ ID NO:14.

In another embodiment, the recombinant Coccidioides fungus attenuated by loss of functional endosporulation proteins further includes mutations of one or more genes encoding additional virulence factors. In one such embodiment the virulence factor includes the URE gene wherein the mutated fungus is incapable of expressing URE-encoded protein.

In the embodiments described herein, the Coccidioides spp. fungus is alternatively Coccidioides posadasii or Coccidioides immitis.

The present invention provides compositions of isolated nucleic acids. In one embodiment, the isolated nucleic acid includes the sequences of SEQ ID NO:13 or SEQ ID NO:14.

Methods of eliciting an immune response in a mammal are also provided, including the step of administering to the mammal a composition including a recombinant fungus of the described embodiments in an amount sufficient to elicit an immune response. In one embodiment, the mammal is a human. In another embodiment, mammal is a domestic animal selected from the group consisting of dog, cat, horse, and bovine.

In variations of the methods for eliciting an immune response, the recombinant fungus is administered to the mammal by subcutaneous injection or by intramuscular injection.

These and other aspects of the invention will become readily apparent to those of skill in the art from the following detailed description and examples, wherein only the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode of carrying out the invention. As is readily recognized, the invention is capable of modifications within the skill of the relevant art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEQUENCE LISTING

SEQ ID NO:1 depicts the nucleotide sequence of CTS2 gene;

SEQ ID NO:2 depicts the determined nucleotide sequence of CTS2 open reading frame (ORF) and stop codon;

SEQ ID NO:3 depicts the derived amino acid sequence of the native Cts2 polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:2;

SEQ ID NO:4 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the 6891-bp ApaI/DraI, linear fragment of pΔcts2 comprising 63 bp of pCR2.1-TOPO (nt 1-63), 828-bp CTS2 fragment (nt 64-891), 3597-bp pAN7-1 fragment (nt 892-4488), 1242-bp CTS2 fragment (nt 4489-5730), and 1161-bp pCR2.1-TOPO (nt 5731-6891), used in the transformation of wild type C. posadasii protoplast to generate Δcts2 mutant;

SEQ ID NO:5 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the 967-bp fragment of CTS2 (corresponding to nt 829-1795 of SEQ ID NO:1), deleted from the Δcts2- and Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant genome;

SEQ ID NO:6 depicts the nucleotide sequence of ARD1/CTS3 gene;

SEQ ID NO:7 depicts the determined nucleotide sequence of CTS3 open reading frame (ORF) and stop codon;

SEQ ID NO:8 depicts the derived amino acid sequence of the native Cts3 polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:7;

SEQ ID NO:9 depicts the determined nucleotide sequence of ARD1 open reading frame (ORF) and stop codon;

SEQ ID NO:10 depicts the derived amino acid sequence of the native Ard1 polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:9;

SEQ ID NO:11 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the 4967-bp ApaI/KpnI, linear fragment of pΔard1cts3 comprising 63 bp of pCR2.1-TOPO (nt 1-63), 971-bp ARD1/CTS3 fragment (nt 64-1034), 3137-bp pAN8 fragment (nt 1035-4171), 741-bp ARD1/CTS3 fragment (nt 4172-4912), and 55-bp pCR2.1-TOPO (nt 4913-4967), used in the transformation of Δcts2 C. posadasii mutant to generate the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 triple mutant;

SEQ ID NO:12 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the 1224-bp fragment of ARD1/CTS3 (corresponding to nt 972-2195 of SEQ ID NO:6), deleted from the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant genome;

SEQ ID NO:13 depicts the nucleotide sequence of recombinant cts2 gene in the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant of C. posadasii (nt 1 to 828 is the CTS2 left-flank crossover region; nt 829 to 4421 is an introduced hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene [pAN7-1 plasmid fragment], and nt 4422 to 5667 is the CTS2 right-flank crossover region);

SEQ ID NO:14 depicts the nucleotide sequence of recombinant ard1/cts3 gene in the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant of C. posadasii (ntl to 971 is the left-flank crossover region of ARD1; nt 972 to 4108 is an introduced phleomycin binding protein gene [pAN8-1 plasmid fragment]; and nt 4109 to 4849 is the right-flank crossover region of the CTS3 gene);

SEQ ID NO:15 depicts the forward primer used for the PCR amplification of wild type CTS2 gene (SEQ.ID-1 nt 1-3041);

SEQ ID NO:16 depicts the reverse primer used for the PCR amplification of wild type CTS2 gene (SEQ.ID-1 nt 1-3041);

SEQ ID NO:17 depicts the forward primer used for the PCR amplification of wild type ARD1/CTS3 gene (SEQ.ID-6 nt 1-2936);

SEQ ID NO:18 depicts the reverse primer used for the PCR amplification of wild type ARD1/CTS3 gene (SEQ.ID-6 nt 1-2936);

SEQ ID NO:19 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the 517- bp CSA fragment, which was amplified by PCR and used to confirm the identity of C. posadasii transformants;

SEQ ID NO:20 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer used in the PCR amplification of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:19;

SEQ ID NO:21 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer used in the PCR amplification of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:19;

SEQ ID NO:22 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer derived from the HPH gene of pAN7-1, and used for PCR confirmation of integration of pΔcts2 in Δcts2 genome;

SEQ ID NO:23 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer derived from the HPH gene of pAN7-1, and used for PCR confirmation of integration of pΔcts2 in Δcts2 genome;

SEQ ID NO:24 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer derived from the deleted fragment of CTS2, and used for PCR confirmation of deletion of CTS2 fragment in Δcts2 genome;

SEQ ID NO:25 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer derived from the deleted fragment of CTS2, and used for PCR confirmation of deletion of CTS2 fragment in Δcts2 genome;

SEQ ID NO:26 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the digoxigenin-labeled probe, which was amplified by PCR from CTS2 gene, and used in southern analysis to confirm the homologous integration of pΔcts2 fragment at the CTS2 locus in the Δcts2 mutant;

SEQ ID NO:27 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer used for the PCR amplification of the probe of SEQ.ID-26;

SEQ ID NO:28 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer used for the PCR amplification of the probe of SEQ.ID-26;

SEQ ID NO:29 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer derived from the BLE gene of pAN8-1, and used for PCR confirmation of integration of pΔcts3 in Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 genome;

SEQ ID NO:30 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer derived from the BLE gene of pAN8-1, and used for PCR confirmation of integration of pΔcts3 in Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 genome;

SEQ ID NO:31 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer derived from the deleted fragment of ARD1/CTS3, and used for PCR confirmation of deletion of ARD1/CTS3 fragment in Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 genome;

SEQ ID NO:32 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer derived from the deleted fragment of ARD1/CTS3, and used for PCR confirmation of deletion of ARD1/CTS3 fragment in Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 genome;

SEQ ID NO:33 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the digoxigenin-labeled probe, which was amplified by PCR from ARD1/CTS3 gene, and used in southern analysis to confirm the homologous integration of pΔcts3 fragment at the ARD1/CTS3 locus in the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant;

SEQ ID NO:34 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the forward primer used for the PCR amplification of the probe of SEQ.ID-33;

SEQ ID NO:35 depicts the nucleotide sequence of the reverse primer used for the PCR amplification of the probe of SEQ.ID-33;

SEQ ID NO:36 depicts the nucleotide sequence of URE gene; and

SEQ ID NO:37 depicts the derived amino acid sequence of the native Ure polypeptide encoded by the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:36.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, suitable methods and materials are described herein. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be limiting.

Reference is made to standard textbooks of molecular biology that contain definitions and methods and means for carrying out basic techniques, encompassed by the present invention. See, for example, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York (2001), Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel et al (eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York (2001) and the various references cited therein.

I. The Attenuated Fungi of the Invention.

Techniques to interfere with the regulatory mechanisms that control reproduction in the parasitic form of the Coccidioides spp. fungus are described herein. Methods have been devised that render the strains of the fungus incapable of producing endospores in the parasitic, spherule-endospore phase of the fungus. Such strains, while replication competent in the saprobic, mycelial phase, are incapable of causing disease in mammals because the loss of endosporulation potential results in their inability to propagate in the parasitic phase. Since the attenuated strains retain properties necessary for their immunogenicity, such strains would be useful for inducing a protective immune response, making them suitable as a preventative or therapeutic vaccine for coccidioidomycosis.

The general approach was to identify suitable sites for genetic alteration of the chromosome of the Coccidioides spp. fungus in order to create knockouts of genes, selecting those that regulate key stages of endosporulation and, therefore, render the recombinant fungus attenuated, while retaining properties of the strain necessary for its immunogenicity.

Suitable sites for integration of the targeting vector into the chromosome of the fungal strain are genes that in no way will effect properties of the strain necessary for its immunogenicity but will increase its safety when used as an immunizing composition. Such strains, while replication competent in the saprobic, mycelial phase, are incapable of causing disease in mammals because of their inability to propagate in the parasitic phase. Such attenuated strains would be useful for a preventative or therapeutic vaccine for coccidioidomycosis.

More specifically, using the methods and approaches described in Example 1 and those known in the art, for example, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York (2001), Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel et al (eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York (2001) and the various references cited therein, attenuated mutant strains would be created by transformation of wild-type strain Coccidioides spp. with gene deletion plasmid vectors designed to delete, by double crossover events, polynucleotide sequences of genes essential for regulation of endosporulation in Coccidioides spp.

A group of genes for such knock-out strains includes but is not limited to those known to have differential expression in the different growth phases of Coccidioides spp.; for example genes encoding the proteins CTS1, CTS2, CTS3, CTS4, CTS5, CTS6, CTS7, CHS5, CHS7, BGL2, beta-glucosidase 3, beta-glucosidase 5, and parasitic phase-specific protein PSP-1. The genetic sequences encoding said proteins would be obtained as disclosed herein from a public database available at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) web site at tigr.org using computational analyses of the partial genome database by application of the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) (Altschul, S. F., T. L. Madden, A. A. Schäffer, J. Zhang, Z. Zhang, W. Miller, and D. J. Lipman. 1997. Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Research 25:3389-3402). Another group of genes for such knock-out strains includes but is not limited to the Coccidioides spp. orthologs of genes known to control cell wall development or morphogenesis in other fungi, for example genes encoding the following proteins: PsuI, a cell wall synthesis protein reported to be essential for cell wall synthesis in fission yeast (GenBank AB009980, Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 262(2): 368-741, 1999); verprolin (Vrp), involved in cytoskeletal organization and cellular growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, (GenBank Ref|xp_(—)324261.1, Mol Microbiol. 10(3):585-96, 1993); DigA, a protein in Aspergillus nidulans required for nuclear migration, mitochondrial morphology and polarized growth. (GenBank Ref|np_(—)588498.1, Mol Genet Genomics.266(4):672-685, Epub 2001); FluG, a protein reportedly essential for asexual development of Aspergillus nidulans (GenBank MC37414.1, Genetics, Vol. 158, 1027-1036, 2001); Ras2, a RAS related GTP-binding protein that controls morphogenesis, pheromone response, and pathogenicity in the plant fungal pathogen Ustilago maydis (GenBank AY149917, Eukaryotic Cell 1 (6): 954-966, 2002); HymA, a protein essential for the development of conidiophore in Aspergillus nidulans (GenBank AJ001157, Mol Gen Genet. 260(6):510-21, 1999). As used herein, ortholog means genes in different species that evolved from a common ancestral gene by speciation that retain the same or essentially the same function in the course of evolution. The known sequences from the non-Coccidioides fungi would be used to conduct BLAST searches of the Coccidioides posadasii sequence data available at the TIGR database in order to obtain the corresponding Coccidioides ortholog gene sequences.

The Coccidioides gene sequences would then be used to create sequence alignments using the translated nucleotide sequences of the contigs or complete gene sequences and the non-redundant protein database available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (Wheeler, D. L., C. Chappey, A. E. Lash, D. D. Leipe, T. L. Madden, G. D. Schuler, T. A. Tatusova, and B. A. Rapp. 2000. Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Nucleic Acids Research 28:10-14), BLASTX matches would be selected with Expect (E) values of <10⁻⁴ as previously described (Kirkland, T. N., and G. T. Cole. 2002. Gene-finding in Coccidioides immitis: searching for immunogenic proteins, p. 247-254. In K. J. Shaw (ed.), Pathogen genomics: impact on human health. Humana Press, Totowa, N.J.). Once appropriate sequences are derived, using the methods described herein appropriate transforming plasmids would be constructed and the Coccidioides spp. wild-type strain would be transformed to selectively replace and or delete polynucleotide sequences of individual genes that encode the targeted polypeptides using plasmids designed to result in a double crossover event.

Using the methods described more fully in the Examples, the identity and homology of the mutant transformants would be confirmed by PCR, sequence analysis, and Southern blot analysis by the methods described herein and would be subsequently screened to confirm loss of morphogenic potential to the parasitic phase. Such strains would be further evaluated for confirmation of lack of virulence in the mouse model further described in the Examples. Strains demonstrating lack of virulence would be considered attenuated and would be subsequently screened to confirm their immunogenicity in the vaccination mouse model, further described in Example 3. If the vaccination experiment showed increased survival in mice vaccinated with the attenuated strain and challenged with the wild-type strain and a reduction in the recovery of viable fungus from the organs of necropsied mice, this would confirm the strain as an attenuated vaccine useful for prevention of coccidioidbmycosis.

A specific embodiment of the molecular strategy is a CTS21ARD1/CTS3 knockout of the Coccidioides spp. fungus. The triple knockout of the CTS2, ARD1 and CTS3 genes of the Coccidioides spp. fungus was performed using targeted gene replacement in the wild-type gene sequences (SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:9, and SEQ ID NO:7, respectively), resulting in homologous integration of a hygromycin resistance cassette and a phleomycin cassette by double crossover recombination at the flanking CTS2- and ARD1/CTS3-homologous fragments, respectively, and the consequent deletion of an internal fragment from both. The mutated CTS2 locus of the CTS2-null mutant would thus contain the transformation plasmid construct of SEQ ID NO:4, but lacks a fragment of CTS2 (SEQ ID NO:5) that intervenes the CTS2 sequences in homology to the flanks of the hygromycin cassette. Similarly, the mutated ARD1/CTS3 locus of the ARD1/CTS3-null mutant contains the transformation plasmid construct of SEQ ID NO:11, but lacks a fragment of ARD1/CTS3 (SEQ ID NO:12). The rest of the fungus DNA was left intact.

Although the strains described above include deletions of the ARD1 gene, it is anticipated that a double-knockout of the CTS2 and CTS3 genes, by the methods described herein, would result in mutant strains and vaccines functionally and immunologically equivalent to the strains of the present invention.

According to preferred embodiments, the fungus would maintain an ability to grow in vitro in the saprophytic, mycelial phase and could undergo morphogenic conversion into a first-generation parasitic-phase spherule when introduced into a mammal, but could not undergo endosporulation, thereby rendering it incapable of reproducing and, consequently, incapable of causing disease. The attenuated strain would, however, retain the potential to induce a protective immune response, thereby making it suitable for use as a preventative or therapeutic vaccine for prevention and or treatment of coccidioidomycosis. In additional embodiments, the introduction of additional deletions or sequence modifications that would reduce the virulence of the cts2/ard1/cts3-null mutant of Coccidioides spp. of the present invention or reduce the virulence of the cts2/ard1/cts3-null mutant in the event of reversion of the mutant strain to a wild-type phenotype, either through spontaneous reversion or recombination with a homologous or heterologous gene donor, would address a long-felt need in the art to provide attenuated vaccines for the prevention or treatment of coccidioidomycosis that have an increased margin of safety for use in a mammal.

II. The DNA Sequences of the Invention.

The methods utilized for selective replacement and or deletion of polynucleotide sequences in strains of Coccidioides spp. fungus, leading to the corresponding loss amino acids necessary for functional proteins critical to endosporulation potential of the parasitic phase of the fungus and, hence, virulence, are disclosed herein. Polynucleotide coding sequences for amino acid residues are known in the art and are disclosed for example in Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2001.

As a representative example, using the methods disclosed herein, a Coccidioides spp. strain was created wherein the resulting transformed CTS21ARD1/CTS3-null mutant had a recombinant CTS2 gene with 5667 nucleotide residues and a recombinant ARD1/CTS3 gene with 4849 nucleotide residues, which resulted in no detectable or functional CTS2- or CTS3-encoded polypeptides in transformants. The nucleotide sequence of the recombinant CTS2 gene of the present invention is the polynucleotide sequence-of SEQ ID NO: 13, and the nucleotide sequence of the recombinant ARD1/CTS3 of the present invention is the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:14.

By such methods, additional attenuated strains comprising the introduction of deletions or sequence modifications that would affect target polynucleotide sequences essential to endosporulation and or virulence of Coccidioides spp. are disclosed.

A further variation provides introduction of additional mutations in strains lacking endosporulation potential comprising deletion of sequences essential for the production of virulence factors other than those controlling endosporulation potential of Coccidioides spp. In one such embodiment, a null mutation of the URE gene is introduced into the cts2/ard1/cts3 null mutant strains, resulting in a functional disruption of the URE gene product.

Within the context of the present invention “polynucleotide” in general relates to polyribonucleotides and polydeoxyribonucleotides, it being possible for these to be non-modified RNA or DNA or modified RNA or DNA.

Polynucleotides of the present invention means the sequences exemplified in this application as well as those that have substantial identity to those sequences and which lead to loss of morphogenic potential of the Coccidioides spp. fungus. Preferably, such polynucleotides are those that hybridize under stringent conditions as defined herein and are at least 70%, preferably at least 80% and more preferably at least 90% to 95% identical to those sequences.

“Consisting essentially of”, in relation to a nucleic acid sequence, is a term used hereinafter for the purposes of the specification and claims to refer to sequences of the present invention and sequences with substitution of nucleotides as related to third base degeneracy. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, because of third base degeneracy, almost every amino acid can be represented by more than one triplet codon in a coding nucleotide sequence. Further, minor base pair changes may result in variation (conservative substitution) in the putative amino acid sequence encoded, are not expected to substantially alter the attenuation or immunologic potential of the fungus. Thus, a nucleic acid sequence as disclosed herein, may be modified slightly in sequence (e.g., substitution of a nucleotide in a triplet codon), and yet still result in the loss of morphogenic conversion and virulence of the fungus because it consists essentially of the same sequence.

The terms “stringent conditions” or “stringent hybridization conditions” includes reference to conditions under which a polynucleotide will hybridize to its target sequence, to a detectably greater degree than other sequences (e.g., at least 2-fold over background). In particular, a DNA or polynucleotide molecule which hybridizes under stringent conditions is preferably at least 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98% or 99% homologous to the DNA that encodes the amino acid sequences described herein. In a preferred embodiment these polynucleotides that hybridize under stringent conditions also encode a protein or peptide which upon administration to a subject provides an immunostimulation sufficient to provide some level of immune protection against Coccidioides spp. as described herein.

Typically, stringent conditions will be those in which the salt concentration is less than about 1.5 M Na ion, typically about 0.01 to 1.0 M Na ion concentration (or other salts) at pH 7.0 to 8.3 and the temperature is at least about 30° C. for short polynucleotides (e.g., 10 to 50 nucleotides) and at least about 60° C. for long polynucleotides (e.g., greater than 50 nucleotides)—for example, “stringent conditions” can include hybridization in 50% formamide, 1 M NaCl, 1% SDS at 37° C., and three washes for 15 min each in 0.1× SSC/1%SDS at 60 to 65° C.

Homology, sequence similarity or sequence identity of nucleotide or amino acid sequences may be determined conventionally by using known software or computer programs such as the BestFit or Gap pairwise comparison programs (GCG Wisconsin Package, Genetics Computer Group, 575 Science Drive, Madison, Wis. 53711). BestFit uses the local homology algorithm of Smith and Waterman (Advances in Applied Mathematics. 1981. 2: 482-489), to find the best segment of identity or similarity between two sequences. Gap performs global alignments: all of one sequence with all of another similar sequence using the method of Needleman and Wunsch, (Journal of Molecular Biology. 1970. 48:443-453). When using a sequence alignment program such as BestFit, to determine the degree of sequence homology, similarity or identity, the default setting may be used, or an appropriate scoring matrix may be selected to optimize identity, similarity or homology scores. Similarly, when using a program such as BestFit to determine sequence identity, similarity or homology between two different amino acid sequences, the default settings may be used, or an appropriate scoring matrix, such as blosum45 or blosum80, may be selected to optimize identity, similarity or homology scores.

Naturally, the present invention also encompasses DNA segments that are complementary, or essentially complementary, to the sequences set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and or SEQ ID NO:7 [ORF sequences]. As used herein, the term “complementary sequences” means nucleic acid sequences that are substantially complementary, as may be assessed by the same nucleotide comparison set forth above, or as defined as being capable of hybridizing to the nucleic acid segments SEQ ID NO:2 and or SEQ ID NO:7 under stringent conditions such as those described herein.

The nucleic acid segments of the present invention, regardless of the length of the coding sequence itself, may be combined with other nucleic acid and DNA sequences, such as promoters, polyadenylation signals, additional restriction enzyme sites, multiple cloning sites, other coding segments, and the like, such that their overall length may vary considerably. It is therefore contemplated that a nucleic acid segment or fragment of almost any length may be employed, with the total length preferably being limited by the ease of preparation and use in the intended recombinant protocol.

For example, nucleic acid segments or fragments may be prepared that include a short contiguous stretch identical to or complementary to SEQ ID NO:2 and or SEQ ID NO:7, such as about a 3,000, 5,000 or 10,000 bp nucleotide stretch, up to about 20,000 base pairs in length. Nucleic acid and DNA segments with total lengths of about 1,000, about 500, about 200, about 100 and about 50 base pairs in length (including all intermediate lengths) are also contemplated to be useful.

It will be readily understood that “intermediate lengths”, in these contexts, means any length between the quoted ranges, such as 3001, 3002, 3003, 3004, 3005, etc.; including all integers through the 200-500; 500-1,000; 1,000-2,000; 2,000-3,000; 3,000-5,000; 5,000-10,000 ranges, up to and including sequences of about 12,001, 12,002, 13,001, 13,002, 15,001, 20,001 and the like.

It will also be understood that this invention is not limited to the use of the particular plasmid sequences of SEQ ID NO:4 and SEQ ID NO:11 used for the transformation of the Coccidioides spp. fungus. Recombinant vectors and isolated DNA segments may therefore variously include the coding region from SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:11, coding regions bearing selected alterations or modifications in the basic coding region, or they may consist essentially of larger polynucleotide sequences that, when introduced into the Coccidioides spp. fungus, nevertheless result in the loss of genes that control endosporulation potential.

The nucleic acid and DNA segments of the present invention contain essentially equivalent polynucleotide sequences that arise as a consequence of point mutations that occur naturally or through the application of site-directed mutagenesis techniques or through such other techniques that are known to those skilled in the art.

III. Preparation and Formulation of Vaccines.

As described herein, the attenuated Coccidioides spp. strains may be introduced into a mammal by injection or other routes of instillation, in one or more administrations, thereby eliciting an immune response protective against Coccidioides spp. infection. In a further embodiment, the attenuated fungal strains and formulations employing the strains may be admixed in various combinations and or admixed with other known proteins or peptides which are known or believed to facilitate an immunological response, thereby providing protection against Coccidioides spp. infection. In an alternative embodiment, the components of the present invention may be administered separately; i.e., at different time points, which is known or believed to facilitate an immunological response, thereby providing protection against Coccidioides spp. infection. For example, the attenuated strain of the present invention can be combined with one or more additional Coccidioides spp. polypeptides or antigens, such as Ag2/PRA106, Csa, Gel1, Ure, or non-Coccidioides protein antigens or toxoids, such as tetanus toxoid, diphtheria toxoid, cholera toxoid, ovalbumin (OVA), or keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH).

The pharmaceutically acceptable carriers which can be used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, an excipient, a stabilizer, a binder, a lubricant, a colorant, a disintegrant, a buffer, an isotonic agent, a preservative, an anesthetic, and the like which are commonly used in a medical field.

Also, the dosage form, such as injectable preparations (solutions, suspensions, emulsions, solids to be dissolved when used, etc.), tablets, capsules, granules, powders, liquids, liposome inclusions, ointments, gels, external powders, sprays, inhalating powders, eye drops, eye ointments, suppositories, pessaries, and the like, can be used appropriately depending on the administration method and the polypeptides of the present invention can be accordingly formulated. Pharmaceutical formulations are generally known in the art and are described, for example, in Chapter 25.2 of Comprehensive Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 5, Editor Hansch et al, Pergamon Press (1990).

The present invention also provides compositions containing the attenuated strains thereof and one or more suitable adjuvants commonly used in the field of immunology and medicine to enhance the immune response in a subject. Examples of such adjuvants include monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), a detoxified derivative of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) moiety of Salmonella minnesota R595, which has retained immunostimulatory activities and has been shown to promote Th1 responses when co-administered with antigens (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,611; Tomrai et al., Journal of Biological Response Modifiers. 1987. 6:99-107; Chen et al., Journal of Leukocyte Biology 1991. 49:416-422; Garg & Subbarao. Infection and Immunity. 1992. 60(6):2329-2336; Chase et al., Infection and Immunity.1986. 53(3):711-712; Masihi et al, Journal of Biological Response Modifiers. 1988. 7:535-539; Fitzgerald, Vaccine 1991. 9:265-272; Bennett et al, Journal of Biological Response Modifiers 1988. 7:65-76; Kovach et al., Journal of Experimental Medicine, 1990. 172:77-84; Elliott et al., Journal of Immunology. 1991.10:69-74; Wheeler A. W., Marshall J. S., Ulrich J. T., International Archives of Allergy and Immunology 2001. October;126(2):135-9; and Odean et al., Infection and Immunity 1990. 58(2):427-432); MPL derivatives (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,237) other general adjuvants (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,611); CpG and ISS oligodeoxynucleotides (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,388; U.S. Pat. No. 6,207,646; U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,116; U.S. Pat. No. 6,339,068; McCluskie, M. J., and H. L. Davis. Vaccine 2002. 19:413-422; Ronaghy A, Prakken B J, Takabayashi K, Firestein G S, Boyle D, Zvailfler N J, Roord S T, Albani S, Carson D A, Raz E. Immunostimulatory DNA sequences influence the course of adjuvant arthritis. Journal of Immunology 2002. 168(1):51-6.; Miconnet et al (2002) 168(3) Journal of Immunology pp 1212-1218; Li et al (2001) Vaccine 20(1-2):148-157; Davis (2000) Developmental Biology 104:165-169; Derek T. O'Hagan, Mary Lee MacKichan, Manmohan Singh, Recent developments in adjuvants for vaccines against infectious diseases, Biomolecular Engineering 18 (3) (2001) pp. 69-85; McCluskie et al (2001) Critical Reviews in Immunology 21(1-3):103-120); trehalose dimycolate (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,945); amphipathic and surface active agents, e.g., saponin and derivatives such as QS21 (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,112); oligonucleotides (Yamamoto et al, Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, 79:866-873, 1988); detoxified endotoxins (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,034); detoxified endotoxins combined with other adjuvants (see U.S. Pat. No.4,435,386); combinations with QS-21 (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,632); combinations of detoxified endotoxins with trehalose dimycolate and endotoxic glycolipids (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,899); combinations of detoxified endotoxins with cell wall skeleton (CWS) or CWS and trehalose dimycolate (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,436,727, 4,436,728 and 4,505,900); combinations of just CWS and trehalose dimycolate, without detoxified endotoxins (as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,019); chitosan adjuvants (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,912,000; 5,965,144; 5,980,912; Seferian, P. G., and Martinez, M. L. Immune stimulating activity of two new chitosan containing adjuvant formulations (2001) Vaccine. 2000. 19(6):661-8). All of the references cited in this paragraph are incorporated herein by reference.

In another embodiment, various adjuvants, even those that are not commonly used in humans, may be employed in animals where, for example, one desires to subsequently obtain activated T cells or to protect valuable or valued animals from infection due to Coccidioides spp.

IV. Administration of Vaccines

As used herein the subject that would benefit from the administration of the attenuated vaccines and formulations described herein include any mammal that can benefit from protection against Coccidioides spp. infection. In a preferred embodiment, the subject is a human. In a second embodiment, the subject is a domestic animal, including but not limited to dog, cat, horse, bovine (meaning any sex or variety of cattle) or other such domestic animals.

By attenuated vaccine capable of eliciting an immune response in a subject human, including vaccination, the invention covers any strain of Coccidioides spp. incapable of endosporulation in the parasitic phase but that induces an immune reaction that results in or augments the subject's ability to mount some level of immune protection inhibiting Coccidioides spp. infection. In one embodiment, the Coccidioides spp. is Coccidioides immitis. In another embodiment, the Coccidioides spp. is Coccidioides posadasii.

As used herein, “inhibit”, “inhibiting” or “inhibition” includes any measurable or reproducible reduction in the infectivity of Coccidioides spp. in the subject mammal. “Reduction in infectivity” means the ability of the subject to prevent or limit the spread of Coccidioides spp. fungus in tissues or organs exposed or infected by said fungus. Furthermore, “amelioration”, “protection”, “prevention” and “treatment” mean any measurable or reproducible reduction, prevention, or removal of any of the symptoms associated with Coccidioides spp. infectivity, and particularly, the prevention, or amelioration of Coccidioides spp. infection and resultant pathology itself.

The dosages used in the present invention to provide immunostimulation include from about 0.1 μg to about 2000 μg, which includes, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 5.0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, and 1800 μg, inclusive of all ranges and subranges there between. Such amount may be administered as a single dosage or may be administered according to a regimen, including subsequent booster doses, whereby it is effective; e.g., the compositions of the present invention can be administered one time or serially over the course of a period of days, weeks, months and or years.

The compositions of the present invention can be administered by any suitable administration method including, but not limited to, injections (subcutaneous, intramuscular, intracutaneous, intravenous, intraperitoneal), oral administration, intranasal administration, inhalation, etc.

V. Kits.

Also included within the scope of the present invention are kits suitable for providing compositions of the attenuated Coccicioides spp. strains. For example, in such a kit one vial can comprise the attenuated fungus disclosed herein admixed with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, either in a aqueous, non-aqueous, or dry state; and a second vial which can carry immunostimulatory agents, and or a suitable diluent for the composition, which will provide the user with the appropriate concentration of fungus to be delivered to the subject. In one embodiment, the kit will contain instructions for using the composition and other components, as included; such instructions can be in the form of printed, electronic, visual, and or audio instructions. The vaccinations will normally be at from two to twelve week intervals, more usually from three to five week intervals. Periodic boosters at intervals of 1-5 years, usually three years, will be desirable to maintain protective levels. The course of the immunization may be followed by assays for activated T cells produced, skin-test reactivity, or other indicators of an immune response to Coccidioides spp.

Having generally described the attenuated strains of Coccidioides spp. useful as vaccines and the methods to create and administer them to elicit protective immune responses, a further understanding can be obtained by reference to certain specific examples that are provided herein for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended to be limiting unless otherwise specified.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Creation and Characterization of CTS21ARD1/CTS3 Null Mutant of Coccidioides posadasii

Material and Methods

Culture conditions. C. posadasii (isolate C735) was used for all experirmental procedures reported in this study. The saprobic (mycelial) phase of the fungus was grown on glucose-yeast extract agar (GYE; 1% glucose, 0.5% yeast extract, 2% agar) at 30° C. for 3 weeks for the production of arthroconidia, the asexual reproductive propagule of the saprobic phase, and mycelia, as required for subsequent procedures and experiments. Parasitic phase of the fungus was grown in defined glucose-salt medium supplemented with 20% CO₂ at 39° C. (Levine H. B. 1961. purification of the spherule-endospore phase of Coccidioides immitis. Sabouradia 1:112-115).

Genome database analysis and gene discovery. The C. posadasii genome sequencing project was initiated in 2001 at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR, Rockville, Md.), and involves a whole genome shotgun strategy for determination of >99% of the 29-megabase genome sequence. Genomic libraries of C. posadasii (isolate C735) with inserts of 2-10 kilobases (kb) were constructed in the pUC plasmid (Promega, Madison, Wis.), and sequenced from both ends. Each library contained >6×10⁵ recombinants, and the combined recombinants of three libraries have been estimated to be sufficient for sequence analysis of the entire C. posadasii genome (Kirkland, T. N., and G. T. Cole. 2002. Gene-finding in Coccidioides immitis: searching for immunogenic proteins, p. 247-254. In K. J. Shaw (ed.), Pathogen genomics: impact on human health. Humana Press, Totowa, N.J.). Genomic survey sequences (GSS) have been assembled into unique contigs and incorporated into a public database (available at The Institute for Genomic Research web site at tigr.org). Computational analyses of the partial genome database were performed by application of the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) (Altschul, S. F., T. L. Madden, A. A. Schäffer, J. Zhang, Z. Zhang, W. Miller, and D. J. Lipman. 1997. Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Research 25:3389-3402). Sequence alignments were conducted using the translated nucleotide sequences of the contigs and the non-redundant protein database available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (Wheeler, D. L., C. Chappey, A. E. Lash, D. D. Leipe, T. L. Madden, G. D. Schuler, T. A. Tatusova, and B. A. Rapp. 2000. Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Nucleic Acids Research 28:10-14). BLASTX matches were selected with Expect (E) values of <10⁻⁴ as previously described (Kirkland, T. N., and G. T. Cole. 2002.).

Construction of transformation plasmid. Two plasmids, pΔcts2 and pΔcts3, were constructed to disrupt CpCTS2 and ARD1/CTS3 genes, respectively, by homologous recombination. To construct the pΔcts2 plasmid, one pair of synthetic oligonucleotide primer (SEQ ID NO:15 and SEQ ID NO:16) was used to amplify the CpCTS2 gene from genomic DNA of Coccidioides posadasii C735 strain. The 3041-bp PCR product (SEQ ID NO:1 nt 1-3041) was then cloned into a PCR2.1-TOPO vector (Invitrogen™ Life Technologies, Inc., San Diego, Calif.) to yield the pCR2.1-CTS2 plasmid. The pΔcts2 plasmid was obtained by replacing a 1-kb StuI/SpeI CTS2 fragment (SEQ ID NO:1 nt 829-1795) in the pCR2.1-CTS2 plasmid with a 3.6-kb StuI/XbaI fragment of pAN7-1 (GenBank accession #Z32698) by standard molecular cloning method (Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F, & Maniatis T. 1989. Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 2^(nd) ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). The 3.6-kb pAN7-1 polynucleotide contains the hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene (HPH) (Punt, P J., Oliver, R P., Dingemanse, M A., Pouwels, P H., and van den Hondel, C A. 1987. Transformation of Aspergillus based on the hygromycin B resistance marker from Escherichia coli. Gene 56: 117-124), which confers resistance to the transformation selection marker, hygromycin. The pΔcts2 plasmid was used to transform an E. coli strain TAM-1 (Activemotif, Carlsbad, Calif.). The pΔcts2 plasmid was isolated from the transformed bacteria, linearized by digestion with ApaI and DraI at the pCR2.1-TOPO vector, extracted by ethanol precipitation, suspended in MSC buffer (10 mM MOPS, pH 6.5; 1 M sorbitol and 20 mM CaCl₂) and held for transformation. The 6891-bp ApaI/DraI fragment (SEQ ID NO:4) of pΔcts2, includes the 3597-bp pAN7-1 fragment, 828- and 1242-bp flanks of CpCTS2-homologous fragments, and 63- and 1161-bp fragments of pCR2.1-TOPO.

To construct the pΔcts3 plasmid, one pair of synthetic oligonucleotide primer (SEQ ID NO:17 and SEQ ID NO:18) was used to amplify the ARD1/CTS3 gene from genomic DNA of Coccidioides posadasii C735 strain. The 2936-bp PCR product (SEQ ID NO:6 nt 1-2936) was then cloned into a PCR2.1-TOPO vector (Invitrogen™) to yield the pCR2.1-CTS3 plasmid. The pΔcts3 plasmid was obtained by replacing a 1.2-kb NheI/SspI ARD1/CTS3 fragment (SEQ ID NO:6 nt 972-2195) in the pCR2.1-CTS3 plasmid with a 3.1-kb NheI/SspI fragment of pAN8-1 (GenBank accession #Z32751) by standard molecular cloning method. The 3.1-kb pAN8-1 polynucleotide contains the phleomycin binding protein gene (BLE) (Punt et al. 1988. A vector for Aspergillus transformation conferring phleomycin resistance. Journal Fungal Genetics Newsletter 35:25-30), which confers resistance to the transformation selection marker, phleomycin. The pΔcts3 plasmid was used to transform an E. coli strain TAM-1 (Activemotif, Carlsbad, Calif.). The pΔcts3 plasmid was isolated from the transformed bacteria, linearized by digestion with ApaI and KpnI at the pCR2.1-TOPO fragment, extracted by ethanol precipitation, suspended in MSC buffer and held for transformation. The 4967-bp ApaI/KpnI fragment (SEQ ID NO:11) of pΔcts3, includes the 3137-bp pAN8-1 fragment, 971- and 741-bp flanks of ARD1/CTS3-homologous fragments, and 63- and 55-bp fragments of pCR2.1-TOPO.

Fungal transformation procedures. Transformation of Coccidioides posadasii was performed using a reported method (Reichard et al. 2000. Disruption of the gene, which encodes a serodiagnostic antigen and chitinase of the human fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis. Infection and immunity 68:5830-8). The 7-kb ApaI/DraI fragment of pΔcts2, was taken up by the protoplasts of C. posadasii C735 in the presence of polyethylene glycol and calcium ion. Transformants were selected on GYE agar supplemented with 75 μg/ml hygromycin B (HmB) and subsequently maintained on 100 μg/ml HmB/GYE agar. A Δcts2 mutant (#63) confirmed by Southern blot analysis was used as the parental strain for second transformation to disrupt ARD1/CTS3 genes. Transformation of Δcts2 mutant with the 5-kb ApaI/KpnI fragment of the pΔcts3 plasmid was performed as described above except transformants were selected on GYE agar supplemented with 3 μg/ml phleomycin (PHL) and subsequently maintained on 5 μg/ml PHUGYE agar.

Screening of putative transformants. Total genomic DNA was extracted with CTAB (hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide) buffer (2% w/v CTAB, Sigma; 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0; 1.4 M NaCl; 20 mM EDTA, pH 8.0; 0.2% v/v β-mercaptoethanol) in 1.5-ml microtubes. About 1 cm² of mycelia from 10-days-old cultures in GYE agar and 500 μL of sterile, acid-washed glass beads (425-600 μM; Sigma) were suspended in 500 μL of CTAB buffer, and the cells were disrupted at high speed (500 rpm for 30 s) in a bead beater. Genomic DNA was extracted twice with 500 μL of chloroform/isoamyl alcohol and precipitated with two volumes of cold ethanol following the standard protocol (Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F, & Maniatis T. (1989). Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, ₂nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). The identity of transformants as C. posadasii was confirmed by PCR using primers SEQ ID NO:20 and SEQ ID NO:21 derived from the gene encoding a Coccidioides-specific antigen (CSA; [SEQ ID NO:19]) (Pan S, Cole GT. 1995. Molecular and biochemical characterization of a Coccidioides immitis-specific antigen. Infection and Immunity 63: 3994-4002). To identify Δcts2 mutants, PCR was used to screen hygromycin-resistance transformants for presence of HPH gene with a pair of HPH-specific primer (SEQ ID NO:22 and SEQ ID NO:23) and absence of the deleted CTS2 gene sequence with a primer pair (SEQ ID NO:24 and SEQ ID NO:25) derived from the deleted region of CTS2. Southern blot analysis was used to further confirm targeted disruption of CTS2 in the putative transformants. Genomic DNA isolated from selected pΔcts2 transformants were digested with XhoI, SalI or HindIII, separated in agarose gel by electrophoresis, transferred to nitrocellulose membrane, and hybridized with HPH- or CTS2-specific probe using standard protocols (Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F, & Maniatis T. 1989. Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 2^(nd) ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). Probes were derived by PCR amplification using the HPH-specific primer pair (SEQ ID NO:22 and SEQ ID NO:23) or CTS2-specific primer pair (SEQ ID NO:27 and SEQ ID NO:28). The PCR-derived probes were conjugated with digoxigenin-11-dUTP (Boehringer, Mannheim, Germany) during the amplification reaction, and digoxigenin was detected with specific peroxidase-labeled antibody as recommended by the supplier.

To identify

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutants, PCR was used to screen phleomycin-resistance transformants for presence of BLE gene with a pair of BLE-specific primer (SEQ ID NO:29 and SEQ ID NO:30) and absence of the deleted ARD1/CTS3 gene sequence with a primer pair (SEQ ID NO:31 and SEQ ID NO:32) derived from the deleted region of ARD1/CTS3. Southern blot analysis was used to confirm targeted disruption of ARD1/CTS3 with homologous recombination in the positive PCR colonies. BLE-specific probe was used to hybridize MulI- and NcoI-restricted genomic DNA isolated from selected pΔcts3 transformants, and ARD1/CTS3-specific probe was used to probe NcoI and HindIII+XmaI digests of genomic DNA from the same p

cts3 transformants in the Southern analyses as described above. Probes were derived by PCR amplification using the BLE-specific primer pair (SEQ ID NO:29 and SEQ ID NO:30) or ARD1/CTS3-specific primer pair (SEQ ID NO:34 and SEQ ID NO:35).

Results

Generation of Δcts2 mutants. The linearized fragment of the plasmid construct, pΔcts2, was designed to integrate into C. posadasii chromosomal DNA by a double crossover event at the CpCTS2 locus. Transformation of C. posadasii protoplasts with pΔcts2 yielded more than one hundred hygromycin-resistant colonies. A total of 19 transformants were identified as HPH-positive and CTS2-negative colonies by PCR using specific primers. Six of these transformants were subjected to Southern blot analysis, and four

cts2 mutants with homologous recombination by double crossover were identified. The CTS2 probe hybridized with a 4.3-kb XhoI, a 8.3-kb SalI, and a 10-kb HindIII DNA digests of

cts2 mutants, as well as a 6-kb XhoI, a 8.2 SalI, and a 7.5-kb HindIII digests of wild type. The HPH probe only detected a single band from each restriction digests of

cts2 mutants (4.3-kb XhoI, 8.3-kb SalI, 10-kb HindIII) but not the DNA digests of wild type. Sizes of hybridization bands were all agreed to restriction maps of CTS2 gene and of hypothetical sequences with pΔcts2 integrated into the CTS2 locus. One well characterized

cts2 mutant, #63, was used for second transformation to knock out CTS3 gene.

Generation of a

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant. A plasmid (pΔcts3) was constructed to generate a

cts2

cts3 double mutant; however an ARD1 gene was simultaneously deleted with the downstream CTS3 gene. The genome is very compact at the CTS3 locus, only 697-bp apart between the end of ARD1 stop codon and the beginning of CTS3 start codon. When pΔcts3 was constructed, half of the ARD1 open reading frame (ORF; SEQ ID NO:9 nt 473-813; SEQ ID NO:10 aa 158-270) was deleted along with part of the ORF of CTS3 (SEQ ID NO:7 nt. 1-186; SEQ ID NO:8 aa 1-62). The terminator of ARD1 gene and promoter of CTS3 were also deleted. Only one phleomycin-resistance. transformant (#DG71) was identified as BLE-positive and ARD1/CTS3-negative colonies by PCR using specific primers. Southern blot analysis confirmed this transformant has deletion at the ARD1/CTS3 loci resulted by double crossover with the introduced pΔcts3 DNA. The ARD1/CTS3 probe hybridized with a 4.2-kb NcoI and a 4.6-kb HindIII+XmaI DNA digests of the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant, as well as a 2.9-kb NcoI and a 3.3-kb HindIII+XmaI digests of both wild type and Δcts2(#63). The BLE probe only detected a single band from each restriction digests of the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant (2.4-kb NcoI, 4.7-kb MulI) but not the DNA digests of wild type or

cts2(#63). Sizes of all hybridization bands were agreed to restriction maps of ARD1/CTS3 gene and of hypothetical sequences with pΔcts3 integrated into the ARD1/CTS3 loci. Southern blot analyses of restriction digests of

cts2 and

cts2

ard1

cts3 DNA with CTS2-specific probe revealed identical hybridization patterns (4.3-kb XhoI, 10-kb HindIII) between these two mutants. Summary of all the Southern data indicates a

cts2

ard1

cts3 triple mutant of Coccidioides posadasii was generated by targeted disruption of these three genes.

Morphology of the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 Mutant.

The

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain of the present invention grows as a typical wild-type colony, when cultured on GYE agar. Microscopic examination revealed normal saprobic phase growth, with production of viable arthroconidia. However, the first-generation spherules produced in vitro in Converse media were unable to endosporulate, typically formed in chains, and gave rise to hyphal elements. When the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain was introduced into mice, sterile spherules were also produced in vivo, and germinated to produce short hyphal elements.

Example 2 Evaluation of Virulence of CTS21ARD1/CTS3-Null Mutant (Δcts2Δard1Δcts3) in BALB/c Mice.

Materials and Methods

The virulence of the mutant was assessed in female BALB/c mice at ages 7-8 weeks by the following method. Arthroconidia of the

cts2

ard1

cts3 strain of the present invention and the wild type C. posadasii were used for infection of mice. Fungi were grown on glucose-yeast extract agar (GYE; 1% glucose, 0.5% yeast extract, 2% agar) at 30° C. for 3 weeks. The arthroconidia were then suspended in 10 ml of PBS. The number of arthroconidia in the suspension was counted with a hemocytometer, and the colony forming units (CFU) determined by agar plating.

PBS suspensions (200 CFU) of the wild type and Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant strains were administered intranasally (i.n.) separately in either of two groups of ten BALB/c mice. Mice were scored for survival over a 40-day period post-challenge. Survivors were sacrificed at day 41 post-challenge to determine the residual CFU in the lungs and spleen.

Results

In the survival test, there was 100% survival of the mice injected with Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 by 40 days post-challenge, while none of the mice injected with the wild-type parental strain of C. posadasii survived beyond 21 days. There were no detectable (<10) fungal cells in either the lungs or spleen of all the surviving mice using fungal burden assays. The results confirm that the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain had been attenuated by the complete loss of virulence, compared to wild-type C. posadasii.

Example 3 Evaluation of Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 Mutant Strain as a Vaccine Against Coccidioides posadasii Infection in BALB/c Mice.

Materials and Methods

Preparation of vaccines. Fungal suspensions, used in the vaccine to be tested, were produced from 3-week-old cultures of the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain grown on GYE agar. Arthroconidia were suspended in PBS and passed over a nylon wool fiber column (Polysciences, Inc. Warrington, Pa.) to remove hyphal elements. The filtered arthroconidia were washed three times with PBS, resuspended in PBS, and the cells were enumerated by hemocytometer counts., Viability was assessed by plating appropriate dilutions on GYE agar, and the CFU determined. The negative control preparation was phosphate buffered saline (PBS).

Vaccination groups and challenge protocol. Groups of mice, each comprising 8-week-old female BALB/c mice, were used in this study. Duplicate groups of mice were vaccinated twice (two week interval), first with 50,000 arthroconidia followed by a second boosting vaccination of 25,000 arthroconidia of the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine delivered subcutaneously in 100 μL. Duplicate groups of mice also received the PBS negative control. Four weeks after the second immunization, each mouse was infected by the intranasal route with 76 viable arthroconidia of wild-type C. posadasii in a volume of 30 μL (Lawrence R M, Huston A C, & Hoeprich P D. 1977. Reproducible method for induction pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in mice. Journal of Infectious Diseases 135:117-119.). Intranasal administration of arthroconidia was done under light halothane (1,1,1-trifluoro-2,2-chlorobromoethane) anesthesia. One of the paired groups of infected mice (

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine or PBS) were monitored for survival for 75 days. The other groups of vaccinated or PBS injected mice were held for 15 days after infection and then were necropsied for determination of the extent of lung infection by plating of homogenized lung on GYE agar and quantitation of residual wild-type fungal colony forming units (CFU).

Results

In the survival experiment, as a result of challenge, 100% of mice from the PBS negative control group died within 17 days after challenge with C. posadasii. In marked contrast, there was complete protection of mice vaccinated with the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine, with all mice surviving at the end of the 75 day observation period.

As additional evidence of protection conferred by the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine, mice were necropsied 15 days after challenge for the quantitation of fungal burden in the lungs of the mice. The results showed that while the PBS control animals were heavily infected, with a geometric mean of Log₁₀CFU/organ equal to 7.36±1.12, the mice vaccinated with the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine had only 1.43±0.93, a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). These results confirm the utility of the attenuated

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain as a vaccine for the prevention of coccidioidomycosis, as evidenced by the complete protection of the vaccinated mice challenged by an otherwise highly lethal challenge.

The following experiments are proposed as an additional example that could be conducted to further illustrate the utility of the invention:

Example 4 Evaluation of cts2ard1cts3ure Mutant Strain as a Vaccine Against Coccidioides posadasii Infection in BALB/c Mice.

Materials and Methods

Using the general methods and approaches described in Example 1 and those known in the art, for example, Sambrook et al., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York (2001), Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel et al (eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York (2001) and the various references cited therein, attenuated mutant strains would be created by transformation of the Δcts2Δard1Δcts3 mutant strain with gene deletion plasmid vectors designed to delete polynucleotide sequences of the URE gene essential for encoding functional URE protein. For instance, one can generate a URE-disruption plasmid (p

ure) which contains a 800-bp 5′ URE gene fragment amplified by PCR (SEQ ID NO:36 nt 1-800) followed by a 848-bp 3′ URE gene fragment also generated by PCR (SEQ ID NO:36 nt 4741-5588). The

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant can be transformed by the introduced p

ure using the transformation procedure described in example 1. Putative

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutants would be incapable of producing the functional Ure protein of SEQ ID NO:37, and such mutants can be selected on Difco Bacto Urea agar base medium containing a phenol red pH indicator. Transformants with disrupted URE gene would fail to change the color of medium from yellow to red. The identity of the

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant can be further confirmed by PCR, sequence analysis, and Southern blot analysis by the methods described herein. The

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure strains would be evaluated for confirmation of lack of virulence in the mouse model previously described (Example 2). The

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure would be subsequently screened to confirm their immunogenicity in the vaccination mouse model by the methods described below.

Preparation of vaccines. Fungal suspensions, used in the vaccines to be tested, would be produced from 3-week-old cultures of the

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant strain grown on GYE agar. Arthroconidia from the strains would be suspended in PBS and passed over a nylon wool fiber column (Polysciences, Inc. Warrington, Pa.) to remove hyphal elements. The filtered arthroconidia would be washed three times with PBS, resuspended in PBS, and the cells enumerated by hemacytometer counts., Viability would be assessed by plating appropriate dilutions on GYE agar, and the CFU determined. The negative control preparation would be PBS.

Vaccination groups and challenge protocol. Groups of mice, each comprising 8-week-old female BALB/c mice, would be used in the study. Groups of mice would be vaccinated either once or twice with 25,000-50,000 arthroconidia of the

cts2

ard1

cts3 mutant strain vaccine delivered subcutaneously in 100 μL or the PBS control. Four weeks after the second immunization, each mouse would be infected by the intranasal route with a highly lethal challenge of 75-100 viable arthroconidia of wild-type C. posadasii in a volume of 30 μL (Lawrence R M, Huston A C, & Hoeprich P D. 1977. Reproducible method for induction pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in mice. Journal of Infectious Diseases 135:117-119). Infected mice would be monitored for survival for 45-75 days.

Results

In mice successfully immunized by vaccination, protection would be conferred in mice against C. posadasii infection. This would be demonstrated by a significant difference between the survival of

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant strain-vaccinated mice and negative control mice after the intranasal challenge with wild-type C. posadasii. For example, all

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant strain-vaccinated mice would be expected to survive beyond the 45-75 day period of observation, while all the control animals would be dead by 15-25 days after challenge. At the end of the experiment, the surviving mice would be necropsied and examined. Evidence of localized nodules of healed abscesses would be expected in the lungs of the

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant strain-vaccinated mice. Cultures of lung homogenates of the surviving mice would be expected to have reduced or no detectable CFU, indicating that they had acquired significant immunity to the otherwise lethal infection.

These results would confirm the utility of the attenuated

cts2

ard1

cts3

ure mutant strain to induce a protective immune response and to serve as a useful vaccine for the prevention of coccidioidomycosis, as evidenced by the complete protection of the vaccinated mice challenged by an otherwise highly lethal challenge. 

1. An attenuated Coccidioides fungus incapable of endosporulation wherein the fungus is incapable of replication in the parasitic phase.
 2. An attenuated, recombinant Coccidioides fungus incapable of producing functional endosporulation proteins wherein the fungus is incapable of replication in the parasitic phase.
 3. The recombinant, Coccidioides fungus of claim 2, wherein said fungus comprises one or more genes encoding said endosporulation proteins wherein said genes each comprise a polynucleotide sequence and each polynucleotide sequence comprises one or more mutations.
 4. The recombinant, Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said mutations comprise one or more deletions in said polynucleotide sequence of said genes.
 5. The recombinant, Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said fungus comprises one or more CTS genes and said one or more CTS genes comprise one or more mutations.
 6. The recombinant, Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said fungus comprises one or more CTS genes and an ARD1 gene and said one or more CTS genes and said ARD1 gene each comprise one or more mutations.
 7. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3 wherein said fungus is incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:3 and is also incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:8.
 8. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3 wherein said fungus is incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:3, is incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:8 and is also incapable of expressing a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:10.
 9. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said fungus comprises a CTS2 gene and a CTS3 gene wherein said CTS2 and CTS3 genes each comprise a deletion wherein said recombinant fungus is incapable of expressing polypeptide gene products of said CTS2 and said CTS3 genes.
 10. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said fungus comprises a CTS2 gene, a CTS3 gene and an ARD1 gene wherein said CTS2, CTS3 and ARD1 genes each comprise a deletion wherein said recombinant fungus is incapable of expressing polypeptide gene products of said CTS2, CTS3 and ARD1 genes.
 11. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3 comprising recombinant CTS2, CTS3 and ARD1 genes wherein the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant CTS2 gene comprises SEQ ID NO: 13, the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant CTS3 gene comprises SEQ ID NO:14 and the polynucleotide sequence of the recombinant ADR1 gene comprises SEQ ID NO:14.
 12. The recombinant fungus of claim 2 comprising the fungus in combination with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 13. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 3, wherein said fungus further comprises a mutation of one or more genes which encode virulence factors.
 14. The recombinant Coccidioides fungus of claim 13, wherein said virulence factors comprise the URE gene wherein said fungus is incapable of expressing URE-encoded protein.
 15. The recombinant fungus of claim 2, wherein said Coccidioides fungus is Coccidioides posadasii.
 16. An isolated nucleic acid comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO:13 or SEQ ID NO:14.
 17. A method of eliciting an immune response in a mammal comprising the step of administering to the mammal a composition comprising the recombinant fungus of claim 2 in an amount sufficient to elicit an immune response.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said mammal is a human.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein said mammal is a domestic animal selected from the group consisting of dog, cat, horse, and bovine.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the recombinant fungus is administered to the mammal by subcutaneous injection or by intramuscular injection. 